Spencer Ivy Spencer electric bike

Spencer Ivy are new on the e-bike scene - and the bike scene generally - and the Spencer is one of their two models for this year; no prizes for guessing what the ladies' bike is called. It's big on utility with a classically urban look, and it's a decent ride to boot.

Aluminium framed and forked, the Spencer would look more or less like a classic gent's bike with the electronics removed. Those electronics are a Panasonic 250W hub motor powered by a 10Ah Lithium Ion battery; Spencer Ivy are investigating whether it would be cost-effective to have the power unit in black for next season; as it is the big silver battery stands out a bit although I wouldn't say the bike was ugly. It's a crank motor system so all the electronics are housed - save for the bar-mounted control - in a single box behind the seat tube. this allows the Spencer to run a standard gearing setup, in this case an Alfine 8-speed hub.

The Spencer scores well on kit and accessories. As well as the Alfine you get XT V-brakes, and a Shimano Dynohub to the fore that runs Busch and Muller lights front and rear. There's full mudguards, a kickstand, a nurse's lock and a Pletscher rear rack too, as well as a chain case to keep your best togs free of oil. The 19" frame (one size only) will be fine as long as you're no taller than me (6'3") or shorter than about 5'8". The position is nice and upright for town riding; you wouldn't want to do more than 10 miles on the Spencer but it's fine for those shorter urban errands.

The motor system drives the cranks at the bottom bracket. This type of system has been slower to gain ground because it requires bike manufacturers to completely redesign their frames, it's not a bolt-on solution like a hub motor. however it has the benefit of being compact and keeping all the electrics in one place, and it gives the option of a hub gear as used here, which isn't possible with a driven rear hub.

There's a bit of play in the system when you step on the pedals but away from the lights you get an instant kick which is really handy in town traffic. Spinning the Spencer up to cruising speed is simple and once there the motor does a decent job of propelling you along without fuss. It's less choppy than other systems I've tried, and a lot of the time you won't even notice it's on.

Point the Spencer up a hill and most of the time it'll get you to the top without breaking a sweat. I say most of the time because there's certain scenarios where the torque sensing doesn't really seem to get what's going on. Point the bike up a steep hill and drop the gears and it'll happily chug to the top, but on a slight incline the motor sometimes seems to underestimate the help you want, meaning that if you drop down through the gears you just slow to a crawl. Change to a harder gear and give the pedals a kick and it seems to bring the motor back to life a bit. if you're buying an electric bike, though, you're not looking to make life more difficult. It's only an occasional glitch, but annoying when it happens.

My other main gripe was with the bar-mounted control unit, which on the test bike was a complete ergonomic disaster. However, the new bikes have a different panel which I saw at the London Bike Show and it addresses all the issues I'd noted, so I've been done out of a rant there.

Range-wise Spencer Ivy claim you can get 50 miles out of the battery, which may or may not be the case; I used the bike mainly on the middle of the three power settings and got nearly 30 miles out of a charge, which is pretty good. It's unlikely you'd want to do more than that in one go on a bike of this nature and the range is better than many bikes I've tried. To charge you slip the battery out and plonk it in the charger overnight; there's a charge level indicator on both the battery and the bar unit. run out of juice and the bike is perfectly rideable, if a bit sluggish.

Verdict

£1,895 is a fair outlay but here you're getting a competent electic bike in full utility garb. The Panasonic crank motor isn't as refined as the Bosch unit but it does a decent job and helps to keep the price reasonable. If you need a helping hand and want full-on utility the Spencer lacks the overall capacity of a cargo bike but it's well-specced and easy to ride. Pretty good for a first effort.